oh how i hated this

This image (click for a bigger version) captures the source of much pain (physical and mental) from September 1980 through to the middle of 1985. i’ve mentioned it on this blog before, it was my nemesis.

this is, roughly, our school cross-country route. thanks to the magic of google i have been able to map it out and calculate that it was approximately 2.7 miles of pain and anguish.

i may have got some details wrong, so i’ll go with “somewhere between 2.5 and 3 miles”.

either way, i never completed this course (i.e. running all the way) and would have easily walked most of the way every time. i have particularly horrid memories of breathlessness and painful stitch heading across the fields from the canal to the bottom of hamp avenue.

in any case, i’m pretty chuffed to think that i’ve run much greater distances in recent times.

i have also just this second had a sort of challenge given to me by someone peering over my shoulder as i wrote this… to run the course next time i am in the uk.